Tire spreader



J. P. LAMBERT TIRE SPREADER Dec. 3, 1940.

Filed Aug. 10, 1939 S Y E N R O T T A Patented Dec. 3, 1 940 a type inwhich the spreading laws are operated pneumatically to separate thesides of tires to enable the insertion or withdrawal of inner tubes aswell as to facilitate inspection of the inner surface of the tire. i i

An object of the present invention is to provide a tire spreader of thistype which embodies a novel grip or handle having a resilient memberadapted to be conveniently depressed by themerators hand to open the airrelease valve and permitthe resiliency of the tireito return thespreader jaws to normal position after'each operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable device ofthis characterwhich may utilize for its operating power any source ofair pressure available at a service'statlon and which will engage thetire beads at spaced points longi tudinally of the tire to open a longportion of the tire for facilitating quick inspection of the entiretire.

' A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which will be formed of 5 a few strong, simple and durableparts which will be inexpensive to manufacture and which will not easilyget out of order. i i I With the above and other objects in view theinvention consists of certainnovel detailsof con- 80 structionandcombinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, itbeing understood that various modifications may be resorted to withinthe scope .of the appended claims without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the 85 advantages of the invention. i

a In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, l d ii l Figure 1 is alongitudinal-sectional view of a tire spreaderconstructed in accordancewith the invention and shown in normal releasedposition.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 2-4 ofFigure 1 looking in the direction of the arrowheads. l a

Figure 3 is a detail cros sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure1 looking in thedirection of the arrowheads.

Figure 41s a top plan view of the tire spreader shown in Figure 1' withportions broken away.-:

. a Figure 5 is a side elevation of the tire spread-- er, with portionsbroken away, and shown inap- I plied position to spread a tire at thebead portions thereof. s

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the-lower portion of the gripor handle. as Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional viewtaken smart". d 1Joseph P. Wapato, Wsaln a a plie tin it's-a 10, 1939, serial Na-mm f fsoiai 's (ctfs11 15.s) p v d i' This invention relates to tirespreader-s of the i on the line 1r-1 of Figure 5 showing the grippingelementsor iawsengaging the bead portions. of the tire at spaced pointslongitudinally thereof to spread along portion of the tire.

Referring now to" the drawing in which like 5 characters 01' referencedesignate similar parts in the: various views, "I 0 designates acylinder having oneend closed as shown at and having the opposite endthreaded as shown at [2; 1 A sleeve II is threaded onto the threaded endof the cyll0 inder and is equipped j with a Jaw member 1, best shown inFigures 1 and 5, adapted to extend longitudinaiiy of ,thebead portion ofone side of a we i. The law member is provided at the ends withdownwardlyinclined fingers ll which en- 1 gage theinnensurface of thetire at the' head portion. ,A stop lug 8 extends upwardly from theupper-end of each finger to engage the inner periphery of the bead.portion of the tire and prevent the lingers from being inserted toodeepinto 20 the tire. l Slidably mounted within the cylinder is a hollowpiston rod llflequipped at'one end with a piston II. The oppositeendlof'the piston rod is slidably mounted in a bushings and both the asbushing and the piston rod are provided with contacting. flatsurfacesbest shown in Figures 2 and 3 to prevent rotationof the piston duringits sliding movement. The bushing is fixedly se-" cured in thesleevefllland forms a bearing for the piston rod uring its endwise slidingmovementr 4 The piston rod projects beyond the bushing I and isthreaded.1asshown at ll, to receive one branch of a fr-coupling II.Acheck valve I1.

similarto a conventional tire valve, is disposed in thealigned branch ofthe T coupling and adapted to be opened, as later described, to admitair pressure to the interior of the cylinder agalnstthe piston. 40

The lateral branch of. the T-coupling is provided with a vent. pipe 24,which extends at a right angle to the piston rod and is equipped at itsouter end with a check valve "similar to a tire valve. The check valvemay also be opened, as 45 will later be described, to permit escape ofair pressure from the interioroi the cylinder.

A grip or handle 2|,in' the nature oi a flat bar; is provided with anopening to receive the threaded end ofthe Pi ton rod and a jam nut is 50is threaded on the piston rod to secure the handle tightagainsttheT-coupling as best shown in Figures 1 and 5. i The -T-coupllngis provided at the bottom with a Jaw member 8, best shown in Figure 7,and which extends-longitudinally of the BI jaw member I. The jaw member8 terminates at the ends in downwardly extending lingers n which engagethe bead portions of the the at spaced points longitudinally thereof andcoact with fingers H in spreading a long portion of the tire wide openwhen air is admitted to the cylinder against the piston,

periphery of the bead portion of the tire and prevent the fingers beinginserted too deep within the interior of the tire.

The handle 2i is provided at the upper end with a cross bar I which isperforated to receive the upperend of the vent pipe 24 and is thendirected downwardly substantially parallel with; the por- I tion 2| ofthe handle and terminates in a fork.

having branches 22. The fork of. the handle is adapted to receive theso-called air chuck 29,

"which is substantially a valve casing in which is valve. The air-chuckdisposed a-valve 4 somewhat similar tofa tire is secured to the free endof an airhose 2 of the conventional type to be jfound at fillingstations. To receive the air chuck both branches 22 of the fork areprovided with openings, the innermost branch being provided with anopening 30 which receives-the conven- "tional' pins of the air admissionvalve 11 of the piston and of the check valve in the air chuck when thehandle is compressed by the operators closed hand fromthe full lineposition shown in 1 Figure 1 to the dotted line position shown in this3| of the other fork receives figure. The opening the rounded end ofthe; air chuck and insomuch 'as' the outer branch of the fork isresilient the air chuck will beheld by the yoke releasably in place.

.vided at the outer end with a pin 28 erator depresses the Inoperation,assuming the parts are in normal The cross bar 3 of the handleor grip member is equipped-with a leaf spring 21 which is proadapted toengage the air release valve 25 when the opleaf spring with his thumb.

position as shown in Figure 1, the operator grasps the fork and thehandle 2i with his fingers and thumb closed thereupon, and then insertsthe fingers of the jaw members I and 8 between the bead portions of thetire 1. Next the operator closes the ball' of thehand upon the fork 22to deform the yoke from the full line position to the dottedlineposition shown in Figure, l, during which operation the opening of onebranch of the yoke receives the casing of the air admission valve l1 andthe pins of both the air admission valve and the air chuck 'valve'arebrought into engagement to open both valves and permit air to enter. thepiston stem-and escape therefrom between the closed end H of thecylinder and the piston H5. The incoming air accumulates between thepiston 15 and closed end of the cylinder with the result that thecylinder and the piston are moved endwise apart from each other withresultant spreading apart of the bead portions of the tire as best shownin Figure 5. when the tire is spread suiliciently to permit inspectlonand repairs, the operator mayrelease pressure of the ball of his handagainst the fork branches22 and remove his hand from the grip. Duringthis operation the resiliency of the fork returns the fork toinitialposition and carries the air chuck out of engagement with the air ad-;mission valve thereby shutting oi! the air.

The tire is held in spread-open position as long as will presentlybedescribed. A stop lug 5 projects outwardly "from1 the upper end of eachfinger to engage the inner bead portion of the other side of the tirefrom the as may be necessary and when repairs or other work has beencompleted, the operator again of the hand and with the thumb depressesthe leaf spring 21 to bring the pin 26 into engagement with the releasevalve 25 of the vent pipe 24 and opens the valve, thus permitting theair to escape from the interior of thecylinder and from the hollow stemof the piston through the vent pipe. During this release of the air, theresiliency of the bead portions'of thetire, that is the tendency of Ithese portions to return to normal position, forces retrograde endwisemovement of the cylinder and pistonto return the jaw members to theinitial position shown in Figure l.

i From the above description it is thought that the constructionand'operatlon of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplana- What is claimed is:

1. A tire spreader comprising a relatively movable piston and cylinder,a hollow piston rod for the piston, tire bead engaging means carried bythe piston rod and the cylinder for spreading the tire when the cylinderand piston are moved end,- wise oppositely to each other, a T-couplingcarried by the piston rod, an air admission valve carried by thecoupling for admitting air to the cylinder beyond the piston, theairadmission valve andthe closed end of the cylinder being on opposite endsof the piston, a vent pipe carried by the lateral branch of the couplingand extending at a right angle to the piston rod, a substantiallyU-shaped handle having the cross bar thereof secured to the vent pipe atthe outer end thereof, a leaf spring carried by said cross bar adaptedto "be deformed by pressure of an operators hand, a

pin carried by the free end of the leaf spring, and a valve in the upperend of the vent pipe underlying said pin and adapted to be engaged bysaid pin to open the valve and release air pressure from within thecylinder, one leg of the handle terminating in a fork, said fork beinglocated adjacent to said air admission valve disposed in one leg of theT-coupling, the legs of the fork being resiliently connected and spacedapart a sufllcient distance to receive a conventional air hose chuckbetween them so that they can be moved relatively to each other whenpressure of the operator's hand is exerted thereon to deform the fork tothereby move the chuck toward the air admission valve for admitting airto the cylinder. i

2. A tire spreader comprising a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, ahollow piston rod for the piston projecting exteriorly of the cylinder,tire bead engaging jaw members carried by the piston rod and by thecylinder adapted to spread open a tire when the piston rod and thecylinder are moved endw'ise oppositely to each other, a T- couplingcarried by the piston rod, an air admission valvecarried by the couplingfor admitting air through the hollow piston rod to the cylinder beyondthe piston, the air admission valve and the closed end of the cylinderbeing on opposite ends of the piston, a vent pipe carried by the lateralbranch of the coupling and extending at a right angle to the piston rod,an air release valve in the upper end ofthe vent pipe, a handle ofsubstantially inverted U form secured to the piston rod and to the ventpipe, said handle having a free leg terminating in a fork disposedadjacent the air admission valve, the legs of the fork being resilientlyconnected together and spaced apart and openings to releasably receive aconventional air hose valve control chuck between the legs, theresilient legs being movable relatively to each other when pressure ofthe operators hand is exerted thereon to deform the fork to thereby movethe chuck toward the air admission valve for admitting air to thecylinder, a leaf spring carried by the handle, a pin on the free end ofthe leaf spring overlying said air release valve in the upper end of thevent pipe and adapted to engage the ivalve to open the air valve whenthe spring is deformed by pressure of an operators hand to vent air frombetween the piston and the cylinder and permit resiliency of the tire toreturn the piston and the cylinder and the tire spreading jaws to normalposition.

3. A tire spreader comprising a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, ahollow piston rod for the piston projecting exteriorly of the cylinder,tire engaging members carried by the piston rod and the cylinder adaptedto spread open the tire when the piston and the cylinder are movedrelatively to each other, stop lugs carried by the jaw members adaptedto engage the beads of a tire to limit insertion of the jaw members inthe tire, a T- coupling carried by the piston rod, an air admissionvalve carried by the T-coupling for admitting air tothe cylinder beyondthe piston for moving the piston and cylinder relatively to each other,the air admission valve and the closed end of the cylinder beingdisposed on opposite ends of the piston, a vent pipe carried by thelateral branch of the coupling and extending at a right angle to thepiston rod, a valve in the upper end of the vent pipe, a handle ofsubstantially in verted U form secured to the piston rod and to the ventpipe, said handle having a freeleg termimating in a forkdisposedadiacent the air admission valve, the legs of the fork beingresiliently connected together and spaced apart and having openings toreleasably secure a conventional air hose valve control chuckbetween thelegs, deforming of the handle by an operator's grip closing thereonmoving the chuck to open said air release valve and adapted to enter thepipe and open the air release valve when the leaf spring is deformed bypressure of an operators hand to admission valve, and a leaf springcarried by the q handle terminating in an end overlying the air permitairbeing vented from between the piston and the cylinder so that theresiliency of the tire may return the piston and cylinder and the tirespreading position to normal position.

JOSEPH P. LAMBERT.-

